Cutter.



B. W. JONES.

CUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30, 1910.

- Hoamua j IIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIHH COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c,

Patented July 30, 1912.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELLIOTT W. JONES, 0F OPELIKA, ALABAMA.

CUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 30, 1912.

Application filed November 30, 1910. Serial No. 595,958.

To all 'LU/LOWL it may concern Be it known that I, ELLIOTT W. Jones, acitizen of the United States, residing at Opeli-ka, in the county of Leeand State of such as will enable others skilled in the art I to which itappertains to make and use the same.

in cutters, particularly of that type in which a pivoted knife isoperated by one hand, while the article to be sliced is being fed to theknife by mechanism operated by the other hand of the operative. In myformer Patent No. 927,247, of July 6, 1909, I have disclosed a machineof this type, and in the present invention, I have made a substantialchange in the general arrangement and construction of the operatingparts to more particularly adapt the machine for slicing meats such assides of bacon and similar meats having bones therein, or otherwise.

A further object of the invention is to provide means for controllingthe feed of the feeding means whereby slices may be cut of uniformthickness, which thickness may be varied in accordance with thedesiresof the customer to be served.

While the invention is not restricted to the exact details shown anddescribed, still for the purpose of disclosure, reference is had to theaccompanying drawings illustrating a practical embodiment of the same,in which drawings like characters designate the same parts in theseveral views, and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view; Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation; Fig. 3 is aview in end elevation looking from the opposite side of the machine fromthat shown in Fig. 2; Fig. a is an enlarged view of the operatingapparatus shown in Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is a local view in cross sectionon the line 5-5 in Fig. 1.

1 designates a table or base which may be mounted on legs if desired andon its base is pivotally mounted a swinging knife preferably of curvedconstruction, associated with a sliding abutment adapted to feed thearticle being sliced to the knife. The knife may be located in anyposition relatively to the cutting edge on the base, but in the drawingsI have shown the base 1 provided with a slot 2 adjacent which may bearranged metal plates 3 secured to the base 1 of wood or. other suitablematerial, and the knife 4:, shown in its elevated position in Fig. 1 ispivoted at one end to a suitable standard or bracket 5, and ispreferably of a construction having a substantial curve at its pivotedend thence extending in the form of an elongated continuation of saidcurved end, terminating in a handle 6. The This invention relates toimprovements sliding abutment 7 is disposed transversely over the top ofthe base and may be provided with impinging hooks 8 if the cutter is tobe used as a meat cutter. The movable abutment is of course arrangedparallel to the knife slot;

One of the particular features of novelty of the presentinvention is theconstruction and arrangement of parts whereby the abutment is fedtoward-the knife and by the present invention this is accomplished byproviding a shaft 9 extending transversely of the base and having on itsends pinions 10 and 11, which pinions mesh with rack bars 12, to whicharesecured the ends of the movable abutment, and which rack bars are ofchanneled construction having their re cessed sides disposed outwardly,with the top horizontal web 13 lying substantially flush with the top ofthe base, and the lower horizontal web being provided on its underneathside with rack teeth 14: adapted to register with the pinions 10 and 11,to feed the. rack bar forwardly or rearwardly together with the slidingabutment 7. I also provide guiding means for mounting and maintainingthe rack bars in position and in the present case this means is shown asconsisting of a pair of elongated plates 15 held slightly spaced oroffset from the sides of the base in order to allow the channeled rackbars to lie alongside of said base with their vertical webs disposedbetween said base and said elongated plates 15, the latter being adaptedto seat within the channeled rack bars and hold same in their properposition. This elongated plate 15 is held spaced from the base at itsforward end (Fig. 5) by means of vertical securing members comprisinglaterally projecting loops 16, terminating at their lower end in avertical strip 17, secured to the sides of the base 1, and it will beobserved from Fig. 5 that the elongated plate 15 is offset a little tothe left of the securing strips 17 providing for a space bet-ween theelongated plates and the base 1, as before stated.

At the rear of the apparatus the elongated plates project beyond therear of the base and are bent back upon themselves to form rearwardlydisposed looped extensions 18 and at their extreme ends bent at rightangles and secured to the base as at 19. The space 20 between the wallsof the looped ex tensions corresponds with the space between theelongated plates and the sides of the base, so that the movable abutmentcan be shifted rearwardly beyond the base a considerable distance ifdesired or until the vertical webs 12 of the channeled rack bars abutagainst the ends of the looped extension, which will limit the rearwardmovement of the sliding abutment.

lVith the construction described, any suitable means may be employed forfeeding the movable abutment forward, but it is generally desired,however, to feed the movable abutment forward with a step by step motionand in the drawings I have illustrated a lever and ratchet arrangementfor accomplishing this movement. To this end I pro vide a gear wheel 21near the end of the shaft 9 and on the shaft 9 I also loosely pivot alever 22, carrying a reversible pawl 23 of a peculiar constructionpivoted at one end as at 24 to the lever and at its other end adapted tocoact with the teeth of the gear wheel 21.

It'will be understood that while this machine may be used for slicingvarious articles, the same is particularly designed for slicing sides ofbacon and similar meat, and it will be clear that with the arrangementof the feed mechanism, the meat may be fed up to the knife and the knifeswung in its plane to completely sever each slice. This may be donewithout bending over, and at the same time providing sufficient leverageon the knife to properly sever the slices of meat without requiring agreat amount of exertion. In actual practice, the base of the cutter maybe placed substantially on the ground or floor, where the operative mayoperate the machine in an upright position.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the operation is quite clear. Ifthe abutment is to be fed forwardly the pawl is thrown to the positionshown in full lines in the figures and if the abutment is to be fedrearwardly,

the pawl is reversed with the finger 26 thrown into engagement with thegear wheel as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

Any suitable means may be employed for guiding the stroke of the lever,as well as means for limiting its stroke in the direction of its forwardfeed, to regulate the feed and the thickness of the cut, and in thedrawings I have shown a'retainer comprismg the vertical arms 27 securedto the base 1, the upper ends of the arms being subtended by theretaining bar 28, on which is slidingly mounted a stop 29 disposed inthe path of swing of the lever, and held in its ad justed positions bymeans of a set screw 30.

Having thus described a practical and preferred embodiment of myinvention, the particular features of novelty will now be pointed outmore succinctly in the following claims 1. In a cutter, the combinationof a base, a knife secured thereto, a slidable abutment extending acrosssaid base parallel to said knife, racks secured to the ends of saidabutment, a shaft journaled in said base parallel to said knife, pinionssecured to said shaft in mesh with said racks, a ratchet wheel securedto said shaft, a lever journaled on said shaft, a reversible pawlpivoted on said lever, a stationary retainer for guiding said lever andlimiting the rearward swing thereof, and an adjustable stop on saidretainer for limiting the forward swing of said lever.

In a cutter, the combination of a base, a knife secured thereto, aslidable abutment extending across said base parallel to said knife,hooks extending from the upper surface of said slidable abutment, rackssecured to the ends of said abutment, a shaft journaled in said baseparallel to said knife, pinions secured to said shaft in mesh with saidracks, a ratchet wheel secured to said shaft, a lever journaled on saidshaft, a reversible pawl pivoted on said lever, a stationary retainerfor guiding said lever and limiting the rearward swing thereof, and anadjustable stop on said retainer for limiting the forward swing of saidlever.

In testimony whereof, I aiiix my signature, in presence of twowitnesses.

ELLIOTT W. JONES.

\Vitnesses C. R. SUMMERS, G. W. SUMMERS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

